Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú) | Oireachtas source

Today, Aontú received information from Tusla showing that during the first nine months of last year 70,000 children were referred to Tusla. That means that for the whole year it is likely 94,000 children were referred to Tusla, which is the highest figure on record. It is 30,000 more children than sat the leaving certificate last year. It is equivalent to all the children in Meath and Westmeath being referred to Tusla on an annual basis. It is an incredibly high figure. Nearly 70,000 of those referrals related to physical abuse, 4,000 related to sexual abuse and 4,000 related to neglect, while 43,000 referrals involved child welfare concerns. This is an issue Aontú raises every single year. The number is ballooning out of all proportion and there is very little research, debate or discussion in this Chamber about what is actually happening with children across the country. Most of the referrals were made by gardaí, social workers and teachers, but referrals were also made by probation officers, immigration officials, managers of direct provision centres, homeless accommodation staff and addiction counsellors. What will the Government do about this? What extra resources will be invested into Tusla to enable it to deal with this shocking increase in numbers? Will the Taoiseach meet foster carers, the residential care sector and EPIC to make sure there is proper investment in this area?

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